


Have A Drink On Me (Or Four Or Five, Really)

by beebop202



Category: Avengers, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alcoholic Tony Stark, Asexual Pepper Potts, M/M, Natasha and Tony are actually bffs, Oblivious Tony, Post-Avengers (2012), Tony Stark Needs a Hug, author has literally never written fan fiction and is trying it, first time fan fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-30
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-02-27 13:00:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2693963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beebop202/pseuds/beebop202
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony Stark is your average, everyday workaholic who is TOTALLY NOT IN LOVE with his fellow Avenger, Steve Rogers.  Seriously, if Natasha told you something different, she is definitely lying. But don't tell her Tony told you that because she can probably kill him with her pinky finger.<br/>In which Tony Stark tries to solve his problem of maybe being slightly in love with Steve Rodgers with alcohol because Steve is as straight as...something straight.  Definitely.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Tony Stark Is NOT Oblivious OR Drunk

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so hi everyone! This is my first ever fanfiction that I just decided to write. I'm posting a tentative first chapter, and there may be more pending what people think of it (I would like to write more). I adore Tony and Steve and think they would be good together. I wrote this kinda late, so point out any errors I missed. Thanks :)

      ACDC blares in the background as Tony fiddles around with a blowtorch.  


     “Sir, perhaps you should continue working on your current project when you are no longer inebriated,” JARVIS voice echoes from the ceiling.  


     “J, you know I do my best work drunk,” Tony slurs as he sets down the blowtorch (only to pick up his tumbler of whiskey, can’t have JARVIS think he’s caving in or anything).  


     “Of course, sir,” JARVIS says wryly.  


     Tony is considering which clever retort he should use when there’s a loud pounding on the door of his lab. He looks over at the door to see Natasha. Jesus, don’t they know to leave him alone by now?  


     “Shall I let Agent Romanov in, sir?”  


     Tony sighs and rubs a hand over his face. “Yeah, sure, J, why not?”  


     The door to his lab unlocks, and Natasha enters the room gracefully. She stops short and gives him a knowing look.  


     “Tony, have you been drinking?” The disappointment is written all over her face.  


     “Really, if you stop to think about it, the best question is: when am I not drinking? The answer to that question is –” She gives him a look that stops him mid-ramble.  


     “This isn’t about what I think it’s about, is it?”  


     “Um, that depends. Because if you think it’s about Steve, then you are sooo wrong. I’ve only thought about him for like ten minutes today, twenty tops. Well, maybe a little more since we’re talking about him now. And I have certainly not been hiding in my lab so I didn’t have to see him.”  


     Shit, Tony’s less drunk than he thought. Apparently, he has not actually reached shit-faced levels, and is still hovering at the I will tell you my deepest, darkest feelings level. He should definitely never leave his lab, and should really just drink some more. He reaches over for his whiskey.  


     “Don’t you dare, Stark. That’s enough alcohol,” Natasha says as she makes a grab for wrist.  


     “What, no! There is never enough – Tashaaaaa,” He begins to whine as she starts to haul his ass out of the lab. His lab. Tony’s lab that he should be doing drunk science in at this exact second.  


     She pulls him to the elevator and pushes the button for Tony’s floor. They stand for a couple of seconds in silence before Natasha starts on him.  


     “You do realize this has to stop, right?”  


     “What has to stop? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tony tries, but she just leans over and hits the emergency stop button.  


     “Tony, you’re being a complete idiot -”  


     “Technically, I’m an actual genius and-”  


     “No, it is my turn to talk. Seriously, Tony, just talk to the man!”  


     “And say what? 'Hi Steve, you are totally gorgeous and have the most lickable abs in the entire universe. Can we have sex and make out and stuff?' I’m pretty sure that will go real great,” Tony shoots Natasha a look and tries not to think about said lickable abs.  


     Or that completely to die for ass.  


     Or…no, stop. Bad Tony.  


     “Well, maybe not that exact approach, but a talk of some kind yes. I would prefer you manage this on your own, but Clint and I are prepared to intervene,” And there’s that classic Black Widow threatening stance.  


     Tony’s pretty sure that’s trademarked or something.  


     He sighs, “Look, Tasha, I would talk to him.” He pauses as Natasha scoffs at him.  


     “I would! But he’s Captain America! All brawny, and Boy Scout-y, and straight … like something really straight,” He finishes lamely.  


     She gives him an incredulous look, “Tony, do not joke around with me. I will kill you.”  


     Tony looked at her in disbelief (and with a good helping of fear, he didn’t want to die in his own elevator in his own tower, okay?). “Tash, I’m not joking. Steve does not like me, or men, but certainly not me.”  


     Natasha raises a single, well-manicured eyebrow, and a flicker of knowledge crosses over her face. She leans over and presses the stop button again. The elevator resumes its pace to Tony’s floor. Finally. Tony’s given in to the fact that he’s been pulled out of his workshop, and now he just wants to sleep. Like, yesterday.  


     “Alright Tony, you know what’s best,” She says in a tone that sober Tony would _not_ have liked _at all_ , but drunk Tony dismisses it without a second thought.  


     The elevator drops Tony off on his floor, and Natasha says good night to him with a smirk.  


     Tony stumbles to his room and immediately collapses on his bed. Pajamas are totally for the weak anyway.  


     Within minutes he’s out cold in a deep sleep.


	2. It Takes a Team (To Plot About Tony Stark)

     Steve returned to the Tower after his morning run to find all of the Avengers, minus Tony, waiting for him in the Common area.  


     “…Good morning, guys,” He managed after a moment. “Usually I’m the one that calls team meetings…”  


     “Sorry Cap, but I called this one,” Natasha said from her armchair. (And it was hers now; no one would even try to steal it).  


     “Well alright, how long should we wait for Tony?”  


     Bruce smiled slightly from his place on the couch as Thor spoke up, “As the meeting is about Brother Tony, it is of import that he should not attend.”  


     Instantly, Steve’s smile slid from his face. “Did something happen? Has he not been sleeping again? Or eating?”  


     “No more than usual,” Clint said with a smirk.  


     Natasha elbowed him in the side; he was perched on the edge of her armchair, as with every other time they used the Common area. “Why don’t you sit down, Captain, and we’ll begin?”  


     Steve took a moment to calm himself before he sat down on the couch next to Bruce. At least if Tony wasn’t up to his usual antics, then he probably wasn’t in the process of killing himself. Unless he had built some newfangled device in his lab. Steve swallowed and tried not to think worst-case scenario thoughts. Please let Tony not have blown stuff up in the lab again.  


     “So, um, what’s going on everyone?” Steve asked while running a hand through his hair.  


     Natasha exchanged a look with Clint. Bruce glanced over at the two of them and then over at Thor.  


     “Perhaps I’ll talk,” He said quietly.  


     All pairs of eyes shifted over to Bruce. Natasha gave him an appraising stare and then nodded.  


     Bruce shifted in his seat and turned to face Steve. “Okay, so we all know that you like Tony.”  


     Steve took a second to process his statement and promptly turned a fantastic shade of red.  


     “Don’t even try to say no,” Clint cut in before Steve could even open his mouth. “We were all there for the Poster Boy Debacle of 2013.”  


     Steve, and no one was quite sure that this was possible, turned an even darker red. “I really -”  


     “Please, brother Clint, I do not believe anyone wishes to relive that day,” Thor added with a sharp glance at Hawkeye.  


     Bruce nodded and quickly seized the chance to continue, “Anyway, you like Tony, and you’ve been rather obvious about it. However, as we’ve learned from Natasha, Tony has no idea.”  


     “How did…never mind, I’m honestly not sure I want to know how she got that information,” Steve paused to run a hand over his face. “He really hasn’t…I mean, I thought I was being pretty straight-forward. I…” He broke off, not sure how to continue.  


     How could Tony possibly not know that Steve liked him? While all of the other Avengers clearly cared about their resident genius, Steve was the only one who actively made sure Tony remembered to eat, and he tried to make sure that Tony didn’t fall asleep in his workshop. Steve told Tony what it was like to suddenly be awake in the 21st century after freezing in the 20th. Tony had trusted Steve with a few stories of the real Howard Stark, and it made Steve ashamed to think that he had ever considered Howard a friend. Steve spoke of his friendship with Bucky, and how much he missed him in this brave new world. He was sure that Bucky would love the “smart” phones, and he would definitely get into a lot of trouble with Clint. In exchange, Tony told him about his friendship with Pepper. Steve now knew that Tony loved Pepper, but not in the way many reporters thought. He adored Pepper and would do anything for her, but this wasn’t a romantic love. In fact, Tony was pretty sure that Pepper was asexual, a concept that Steve had learned recently from Agent Coulson. Phil ended up being the one to explain non-technological concepts to Steve most of the time. Either way, Steve thought that Tony and Pepper’s friendship was just as strong as he and Bucky’s was, and he was thankful every day that Tony had Pepper in his life. If he wouldn’t have Steve…but he didn’t want to start thinking that way.  


     “No, you’ve been completely transparent,” Natasha said, cutting into his reverie. “The problem is: Tony strongly believes that you’re completely heterosexual.”  


     Steve snorted and rolled his eyes, “Well, contrary to popular belief, people in the 40s weren’t all heterosexual. Sure, people didn’t openly identify as homosexual, but we also didn’t live in neat little boxes.”  


     Thor laughed and Bruce’s smile grew.  


     "We know that, Steve, but this is Tony,” Bruce said with a meaningful look. “The man is one of my best friends and a certifiable genius, but the common sense things he doesn’t know could fill a book.”  


     Steve sighed and sat back further in the couch. “I guess you’re right, but if he doesn’t believe that I’m gay and I’m already being obvious, what should I do?”  


     Natasha and Clint smirked in unison, and if that’s not a scary thought then I don’t know what is. Thor smiled a blinding grin, and Bruce looked resigned. Steve briefly closed his eyes because this is his life in the 21st century. Gossiping about boys with his team of fellow superheroes. But really, does Tony Stark deserve anything less?  


     “Okay, so here’s the plan…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so ends chapter two! Let me know what you think while I plot for chapter 3. I still have no idea how many chapters this will be, but I hope you like it. Update: I fixed the spacing for chapter one and two! Holla


	3. It's NOT a Date (It's a Date)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, first let me apologize for the wait! It was The Week Everything is Due and then finals week at my college, so I was totally swamped. I hope the chapter makes up for it. Also, I've decided that this will probably be five chapters. Most likely. Enjoy! :)

     “Oh God, what crawled in my mouth and died?” Were the first words of Tony Stark, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, the following morning.  


      “As far as I know, nothing, sir,” JARVIS’ unwelcome voice chipped into his already shitty morning.  


      “Who programed you to be sarcastic?” Tony muttered before glancing at his alarm clock. Noon. That’s probably a decent time as any to get out of bed.  


     …Wait. Usually someone on the team wakes him up before noon. Especially if it’s a weekday. It is a weekday right?  


     “JARVIS, what day is it?”  


     “Thursday, October 16th, sir.”  


     Okay, so definitely a weekday. “That’s…suspicious,” Tony said to himself before pulling his battered body out of bed to the shower.  


     “Sir?”  


     “Nothing, J, nothing. Is the team in?” Tony asked as he started up his shower. Maybe the twin nuisances had been called into SHIELD for a thing, and maybe the Captain had gone with them. Fury seemed to be under the impression that missions went more smoothly when they were under the command of Steve. He was probably right in that.  


     “Yes, sir. Agent Romanov and Captain Rogers went out to retrieve bagels, and returned a half-hour ago,” JARVIS intoned.  


     Tony nearly dropped the bar of soap in his hand. “WHAT? THEY’RE HAVING BAGEL DAY WITHOUT ME?”  


     “Sir –”  


     Tony hastily finished off his shower and quickly toweled off. “J, they can’t have bagel day without me! I started bagel day, that was MY THING!”  


     “Sir –”  


     He rummaged around in his dresser for a decent T-shirt and shortly afterwards realized that he was out of clean jeans. He grabbed a pair off the floor, decided that they didn’t smell _too_ bad, and pulled them on.  


     “This, this is anarchy, this – this is sabotage, THIS –,” Tony stopped to clutch his head. The yelling should probably stop. Yelling was bad.  


     “Sir, if you would listen for a moment,” JARVIS said, sounding impatient. He definitely should not have given JARVIS a personality. “The team has been awaiting your arrival ever since Agent Romanov and Captain Rogers returned.”  


     Tony paused. “Wait, really? _Everyone’s_ waiting? Like, even Barton? Because you can’t keep that man from food.”  


     JARVIS now sounded slightly exasperated, “Everyone is waiting.”  


     Well, that changed things. Tony took a moment for a deep breath. Wow, that even helped his hangover a bit. Knowing the team was waiting for him put a bit of a spring in his step, but he still stopped at the mirror to check his hair. Oh fuck yes, everything was going Tony today. Well, except the usual thing. But Tony was mostly dealing with that.  


     He left his room and took the elevator down to the communal kitchen. He was greeting by the sight of the entire team sitting at the table.  


     “Oh Jesus Christ, finally!” Clint exclaimed as soon as he saw Tony.  


     “Aw Barton, I always knew you loved me,” Tony said, flashing him a winning smile.  


     “No fuck you, Tony. I’m starving,” He grabbed a bagel and popped it in the toaster.  


     Tony rolled his eyes as he made his way to the coffee machine. “So who declared Bagel Day? I’m not complaining, that’s just usually my thing.”  


     “Well, Natasha and I decided this morning that we haven’t had bagels in a while, and we thought you wouldn’t mind if we grabbed some,” Steve said with a wry smirk.  


     Tony gave him an answering smirk as he took his first sip of coffee. Oh sweet Jesus, thank you Coffee Gods.  


     “Don’t forget to drink water, Tony,” Natasha said, gesturing to a glass of water on the counter.  


     That’s…probably actually a good idea. Tony gave her a quick thumbs up and took a big gulp. Wait…was Steve staring at his throat? Tony set the glass down and looked over at Steve again. The Captain had his gaze fixed firmly on Bruce. Okay, imagining things was not good. Tony should probably try to get more sleep. Maybe.  


     “Oh, sweet! Orange cranberry is my favorite,” He cried, spying a bagel in the bag.  


     “Brother Tony, you say this every time there are bagels,” Thor said with his mouth full of cinnamon raisin. Apparently Tony’s arrival signaled that everyone could eat bagels, and that was kind of…sweet.  


     “Whatever,” Tony grumbled as he sat down next to Steve. What? Just because Tony couldn’t have him didn’t mean that he couldn’t enjoy his presence and other sickening shit, right? It was totally fine.  


     Steve shifted uncomfortably in his chair before turned to Tony. Clint struck up a conversation with Thor on the other side of the table. A rather loud conversation. Tony winced and very pointedly did not grab his aching head because he was better than that.  


     “Um, Tony, I was wondering -,” Steve began. Jeez, Steve hadn’t looked this awkward since the Poster Boy Debacle of 2013, as Clint called it. Man, that had been goddamn hilarious. “I thought maybe that we could go out in the city today…”  


     That was a very appealing shade of red. Wait, Steve had asked a question. Think, Tony, was what – oh! “Out? Sure thing, Cap. Did you have any idea of what we would do?”  


     While he spoke, Tony gestured to the other members of the team. Natasha leveled him one of her fiercest glares. What did he do now?  


     “Oh, um, uh, I thought that we could go out by ourselves,” Steve answered.  


     Oh look, the tips of his ears were red; that was cute. Tony froze. Cute? Men were not cute; people Tony liked were not “cute.” Tony looked up at Steve, he was…okay, Steve was pretty cute. What the hell was happening to him? Tony, respond to the statement.  


     “Okay, sure,” Tony said around his bagel. “Wait, are we going somewhere nice? Should I change?”  


     “No, no, I just thought we could walk to the park and hang out there for a bit,” Steve said, looking somewhere over Tony’s shoulder.  


     Tony chewed his bagel thoughtfully. The park, like outside…like, nature. Tony didn’t do outside very well. Plus, there were paparazzi outside and children and small animals. He opened his mouth to suggest something that was not outside, like the movies, but stopped when he saw the hopeful expression on Steve’s face. “The park sounds good,” Tony heard himself saying.  


     Steve’s face brightened up immediately, “I’ll go grab my sketchbook.” He rose from the table leaving Tony alone with the other Avengers.  


     Clint smirked from his end of the table, “Remember to keep it PG on your date.”  


     “Swears make it at least a PG-13, Clint,” Natasha said with a smirk.  


     Thor laughed loudly and Bruce smiled warmly at Tony.  


     “Wait, what? Guys, it’s not a date. Steve definitely did not ask me on a date. We’re just going to the park,” Tony said, finishing his bagel.  


     Instantly, he was met with four incredulous look and Natasha threw a piece of her bagel at him.  


     “God, you’re hopeless,” Clint replied as he left the table.  


     Tony looked at all of them. Was it a date? Actually, it kind of sounded like a date. But Steve was not into men. Right, not a date. Probably. Tony pushed this thought to the back of his mind to think about later. He slipped on a pair of Converse and grabbed a hoodie. It was most likely still hoodie weather and not winter yet. Tony hadn’t been out of it for that long. Just to be sure… “JARVIS, is it still fall?”  


     JARVIS made a noise that sounded like a sigh, “Yes, mister Stark.”  


     “Hopeless,” Clint muttered under his breath as he left the kitchen area.  


     Steve returned with his sketchbook in hand. He beamed at Tony with the brightness of a billion suns. Huh…something to calculate later.  


     “Are you ready to go?”  


     “Sure thing, Steve,” Tony smiled gently. It wasn’t often that he liked people as much as he liked Steve.  


     “Have a safe journey, my friends!” Thor called from the table, now on his third or fourth bagel.  


     They waved at their friends before they left the tower on their way to the park.


	4. But It's Really A Date, I Swear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I most sincerely apologize for this taking so long! I did not get a winter break, like many of you fine folks (I took a class), and the semester just started up again at school. I haven't had a whole lot of down time until today, so tadah! That being said, I'm not sure when the last chapter will be written. But, don't despair, I will finish this. Until then, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

     Tony fished a pair of sunglasses out of his hoodie pocket and put them on his face.  


     “So, Central Park?” He asked Steve, trying his best not to come across as nervous. It wasn’t a date.  


     “Yeah. It’s pretty nice that the Tower is so close, huh?” Steve smiled shyly at Tony, swinging his sketchbook slightly in rhythm with his steps.  


     Sure…if you liked nature and the outdoors. But Tony knew better then to say that to Mr. America Is Beautiful.  


     “Don’t you go running there?” He settled for instead.  


     “Every morning. Early,” Steve smirked at him.  


     “Good lord, why on Earth would you do that to yourself?” Tony let slip before he could stop his traitor mouth.  


     Steve just laughed and grinned at Tony like he was the only person in the universe he wanted to be with right now. Tony actually had to struggle not to blush. Couldn’t ruin his cool guy image.  


     “Believe it or not, some people actually enjoy mornings.”  


     “I most definitely do not believe it.”  


     Their conversation kept much in the same vein as they walked to Central Park. All right, Tony had to admit to himself, this wasn’t too bad. Being out in nature was not too terribly awful if you had good company to go with it. And by good company he meant Steve.  


     They made it to Central Park; there were so many people. Tony was quickly reminded why he didn’t leave his tower too often. People were going to take pictures, and maybe some people would think that he and Steve were on a date. It wouldn’t be unreasonable assumption. God, they’d be all over Twitter in a matter of seconds.  


     “Tony?” He heard Steve call out, interrupting his thoughts.  


     “Yes?” Tony made the effort to at least act like he hadn’t been spacing out, but Steve probably knew anyway.  


     “I’ve been calling your name,” Steve said with a small smile. “Where do you want to sit?”  


     “Somewhere with less people,” He muttered before he could think better of it.  


     Steve’s smile, if anything, grew. “I thought you would probably say that. Come on, I know a place further down the path.”  


     Wordlessly, Tony followed after him. He had thought that Steve might make a comment about how he should interact more with the people, or something along those lines. Steve’s innate understanding that Tony and large groups of people were not exactly simpatico was impressive. Tony smiled, despite still feeling his hangover lingering in the back of his mind. Perhaps cutting down on the alcohol may be a smart idea.  


     They approached a large willow tree a little off the main path. The tendrils of the tree hung low, almost touching the ground. Tony could see the trunk of the tree through the leaves, but it was a moderately secluded place. Steve pushed aside the willow’s curtain and gestured towards Tony. He nodded at Steve with a small smile and stepped into the inner sanctum. He flopped down onto the grass, and watched as Steve settled himself into the grass much more gracefully.  


     “So, what’s the plan?” Tony asked as he placed his arms behind his head.  


     “Relaxing, drawing; I’ll be honest, there isn’t much of a plan,” Steve answered while opening up his sketchbook.  


     “It seems you never really have one, to be frank,” Tony replied with watching the leaves follow the current of the wind.  


     Steve laughed and withdrew a sharpened pencil from the pocket of his jeans. “Well, not all the time. I sort of just do the first thing that comes to mind, usually. Sometimes people would question my plans, but Bucky always went along with it…”  


     “Hey, it’s okay to talk about him, if you want,” Tony looked over to Steve to make sure he was alright.  


     “I mean…I just miss him, is all,” Steve said quietly, glancing down at his sketchbook.  


     “Of course, he was your best friend. Anyone would miss their best friend,” Tony put his hand on Steve’s arm. “I’m sorry.”  


     Steve shook his head and began to regale Tony with stories of the war. Most of the stories were about the antics of the Howling Commandos, and Bucky was lightly touched on in the first few. As Steve’s stories continued, Bucky became a more prominent character, and soon he was telling Tony stories of adventures he and Bucky had when they were children.  


     “But why would you use mayonnaise?” Tony managed after dying of laughter for a couple straight minutes.  


     “We,” Steve paused to laugh, which set Tony off again, “It was the only thing we had! It was Bucky’s idea anyway –”  


     “But you went along with it! You didn’t say no!”  


     “Okay, that’s true, but I thought that we wouldn’t get caught!”  


     “Did you? Get caught?”  


     “Well…I didn’t,” Steve said with a smirk.  


     “No way! Steve Rogers, did you let your friend take the fall?”  


     “It was his idea, so it was fine.”  


     “Captain America, the traitor!” Tony put his hand over the reactor, feinting shock.  


     Steve rolled his eyes and shoved Tony’s shoulder. “I am not.”  


     Tony rolled his eyes back and pushed Steve’s hand away. “Jerk.”  


     They sat in a comfortable silence that stretched on for a few minutes, and Tony contemplated falling asleep. It was nice out and Steve was there. He could easily fall asleep like this.  


     “Tony?”  


     “Hmm?” Tony hummed, trying not to sleep.  


     “Could I,” Steve paused, thinking about something. “Could I draw you?”  


     “D-draw me? Why?” Tony sat up, not quite so tired anymore.  


     “You’re one of the few Avengers that I haven’t had sit for me,” Steve said sheepishly, a light blush visible on his face.  


     “What, even Natasha?” Tony said with a smile.  


     “She was one of the first, actually. So…is it okay?” Steve asked.  


     “Sure, sure go ahead,” Tony replied, trying not to feel overly self-conscious.  


     Since Steve wasn’t forthcoming with any more instructions, Tony settled himself back into the grass. He was going to do his best to be a calm, patient model.  


... 

     “Tony,” He heard a voice say with a soft laugh. “Tony, wake up.”  


     “Fivmorminutes,” His own voice mumbled.  


     “Tony, you’re sleeping in the middle of a park,” The voice continued fondly.  


     “That’s weird,” Tony thought. “No one talks to me like that.”  


     “Tony, come on! Time to wake up!” The owner of the voice was now shaking his shoulder. Tony didn’t like that.  


     “Noooooo,” He moaned, trying to slap away the hand disturbing him.  


     “Jeez, you really are always this difficult,” The voice said with a sigh.  


     “So am not,” Tony muttered as he moved one hand to wipe away the sleep from his eyes.  


     “You’re rather tired, aren’t you?”  


     “I stayed up late last night,” Tony said with a yawn before finally opening his eyes.  


     “Doing what?” Steve said with a frown.  


     Shit. Steve did not approve very much of late night engineering. He certainly was not fond of drunk engineering.  


     “Designing a thing,” Tony said with a wave of his hand.  


     Steve didn’t look too appeased, but he let it drop. He knew that it would be difficult to understand what exactly Tony had been working on last night.  


     “Tony, I wanted to talk to you about something,” Steve was looking down at his now closed sketchbook.  


     Tony’s brain froze and made its way toward panic mode. “What?”  


     “Well, um, the group and I had a conversation this morning,” Steve began.  


     Tony frowned. They had a group meeting without him? Sure, Tony didn’t like going to the stupid things, but they made him feel included. Almost like he had his own family.  


     “About what?” Tony said around the lump in his throat.  


     “Nothing bad, don’t worry!” Steve placed a placating hand on Tony’s shoulder.  


     Tony took a deep breath and relaxed into Steve’s touch. Okay, not a bad conversation. No need to panic. Tony nodded and waited for Steve to continue.  


     SHOT THROUGH THE HEART –  


     “What? Who the FUCK changed by ringtone to Bon Jovi?”  


     AND YOU’RE TO BLAME –  


     “CLINT I SWEAR TO GOD, YOU CHANGED MY RINGTONE DIDN’T YOU?” Tony shouted angrily into his phone. He would have ranted on, but Steve snatched the phone out of his grasp.  


     “CLINT BARTON, THAT IS NOT FUNNY,” Steve yelled, Tony took note of the vein that darkened noticeably in Steve’s neck. “TONY ALMOST DIED AND -”  


     Steve was cut off by something that Clint said on the other end. “Right. Okay. But we’re not done with this conversation.”  


     He hung up and turned to Tony. “There’s a bit of a situation downtown,” Steve said apologetically.  


     “Avengers assemble, then. Wait…I don’t have my shit.”  


     “I know, they’re bringing it in the jet,” Steve said as they began to walk briskly away from the tree.  


     “Good. Hang on, they’re not bringing the jet here? To Central Park?”  


     Steve said nothing and continued to purposefully stride down the path.  


     “Steve! They aren’t going to bring the jet to Central Park, right?? They’ll scare the shit out of people!”  


     “Steve! Seriously, wait!”


	5. I Told You It Was A Date, Guys

            Tony had to run to keep up with Steve’s purposeful strides. He wasn’t really complaining though because being slower than Steve gave him a great view of that all-American ass. A whirring noise sounded from overhead, and Tony looked up to see the Quinjet hovering over them.

            “Oh for the love of Christ,” Tony muttered under his breath. “Hey! Move it! Run in the opposite direction!” He yelled at the people who had stopped to take pictures of the jet.

            Once they realized that the jet was attempting to land, people cleared out of the way fast enough.

            Steve clapped a large hand on his shoulder, “Alright, let’s go suit up.”

            “You got it Capsicle,” Tony said with a truly awful salute.

            Steve rolled his eyes before striding up the ramp to the plane. Damn, now there’s a man filled with glorious purpose. Tony hurried up the ramp after him.

            “Just the men I was waiting to see!” Clint yelled as soon as they boarded.

            “We’re still exchanging words later. What’s the current situation?” Steve answered calmly.

            Tony dithered about, looking for his briefcase suit, before Bruce pointed it out for him. He listened with one ear as Natasha quickly briefed them. Apparently, Loki had taken it upon himself to cause some sort of mischief in the middle of New York City. Thor sat subdued in a corner, poor guy. He really did care for his brother despite everything they’d been through. Tony’s suit whirred to life around him, and he grinned as he was surrounded the familiar metal. Machines! This was his life and he wouldn’t trade it for anyone else’s.

            “Alright, everyone listen up,” Natasha spoke up from the pilot’s seat. “Loki’s got some henchpeople attacking the southern part of the city.”

            “Isn’t it henchmen?” Tony asked, curiously.

            “Jar!” Steve and Clint shouted at the same time.

            “WHAT DID I FUCKING SAY?”

            “I believe the Lady Natasha referred to them as henchpeople to avoid the more sexist term “henchmen”,” Thor added.

            “There could be lady fighters too, we don’t know,” Clint chimed in with his stupid opinions.

            “Can’t I just put $100 in the Jar and be covered up until next Thursday?”

            “Jar committee says yes! Hand it over,” Clint shouted.

            “Jar committee does not say yes! You have to pay for each individual infraction, Tony, you know the rules,” Steve said, smacking Clint’s hand away.

            “Damn, won’t even make an exception for your boyfriend, that’s harsh dude,” Clint waved his hand to get rid of the sting.

            Tony hurriedly looked over at Bruce. Bruce gave him a small smile and a look that clearly said _Go for it_. Panicking, Tony looked back to Steve to check his reaction. Steve’s face was bright red and Tony barely stopped himself from just trying to jump out of the Quinjet.

            “I -,” Steve began, but was cut off by Natasha’s announcement of their emanate arrival.  

            She started to lower down the gangway and Tony made sure he was the first one off the jet before it even touched down. He wasn’t running away, he was…protecting his assets. As in, Steve might kick his assets for even thinking about the two of them dating. Not that he was, certainly not, it’s just that spending more time with Steve might be nice, maybe even fun.

            Tony flew above the danger zone, taking in the damage being done. “Alright guys, listen up. There’s about a hundred or so of these charming hooligans. They’re attacking civilians, leaving most of the storefronts and property alone. As for the Trickster himself, I don’t have a visual.”

            “Copy that, Stark,” Steve said in his Captain voice. “Our number one priority is to rescue the civilians, understood? Iron Man, Thor, I want you in the air to provide cover for the team and to point out groups of civilians that those of us on the ground might not be able to see. Clint, Bruce…oh, er Hulk,” He added with a nod as he noticed that Bruce had already shifted into his alter ego. “I want you two on direct assault, anyone that’s not a civilian gets stopped. Widow, you and I are evacuating civilians and punching anything that tries to give us a hard time.”

            Thor swung his hammer around like a slingshot and flew up into the sky. The rest of the team nodded – except Hulk who roared loudly – and scattered. Steve leapt over a car that had been abandoned in the middle of the street, and punched the first henchperson he came across in the face. The man went down instantly, and Steve hurried over to the civilians he saw huddled behind another car.

            “Hey,” Steve smiled at them to try to help them feel a little less afraid. “Here’s what you’re going to do; can all of you walk?” The three people nodded at him, faces a little less frightened now that he was nearby. “You’re going to go into this shop right behind us and see if there’s a basement. If yes, stay there, and I’ll know to send others in there with you. If no, come back out and we try the next store. I’m going to cover you, so don’t worry about getting hurt, okay?”

            Steve gestured for them to run and they dashed into the flower shop behind him. He hefted up his shield and deflected the shots of three henchpeople approaching him. He then threw his shield at one of them, quickly grabbed the machine gun of another and knocked them unconscious with it. He reclaimed his shield just in time to avoid being shot by the last one and then he bashed them in the head with it.

            “Iron Man, how’re we looking?” Steve said while scanning the area. The three people he sent into the flower shop hadn’t come back out. Good. He signaled Widow across the field and signed to her to send civilians to the flower shop. She nodded and then used her Widow’s Bite to shock two of the nearby henchpeople into whimper-y, crying messes at her feet.

            “Well, it looks like between the six of us we’ve managed to put a dent in them. There’s still about 50 or so, but I haven’t Loki yet.”

            “Thor?” Steve asked.

            “I also have not spied my brother as of yet. I shall report to you Captain if I should arrest my eyes on his form.”

            Steve heard Clint snort into the comlink. He just hoped he didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to have the “people on Earth don’t talk like that” conversation with Thor again. It really didn’t go that well the last time.

            “Steve,” Natasha’s voice helped get him back on track. “I need to pay better attention sometimes,” he thought to himself as he punched a henchperson in the face, kicked another one in the stomach, and slung his shield at another. “Like when we’re sitting in meetings with Fury. Or when Coulson is talking about the Captain America comics. Or when Tony is talking. But it’s so hard to pay attention to what he’s saying when there’s other things to pay attention to. Like the gentle curve of his neck slowly leading into his broad shoulder. Or his beautiful, crazy hair that stands up like a scared cat because he’s been running his fingers through it. Or his fingers! How they’re slender but strong. How they can do intricate, detailed work, but also make the pieces of the Iron Man suit by hand. Or-“ Steve’s thoughts were abruptly cut off as one of the henchpeople shot him in the arm. He made a noise that he quickly cut off. Of course, the others noticed anyway.

            “Cap?” Came Tony’s slightly panicked voice over the coms.

            “Fine,” He said tersely, pushing the pain to the side for later.

            Natasha gave him a knowing look from a few feet away.

            “What happened?” Clint asked.

            “Got shot in the arm – it’s fine!” He added as Tony made a small, wounded-sounding noise. “I’ll deal with it later. Plus, serum.”

            “Just don’t let the skin heal over it again. That’ll be a bitch to deal with,” Clint said while shooting another two henchpeople down the block from him.

            Steve spared a moment to grimace at that thought. That really did hurt. “Well, if _some_ people stop messing around and actually _help_ for once, Tony-“ He was cut off by Tony’s indignant reply.

            “Um, excuuuuse me, Captain Tightass. I have been _very_ helpful. So helpful one might say that I am the helpfulest. Even right now,” Tony paused so the team could hear a very final sounding repulsor blast. “I am being extremely helpful.”

            “Of course you are, Tony. While we’re down here busting our asses for the main assault,” Steve grinned as he heard Tony scoff loudly. “You’re just flyin around doin some skywriting or fancy tricks.”

            “Whoa! Whoa, hey, that was uncalled for, mister sir,” Tony began before Clint interrupted loudly.

            “Okay mom and dad! If you guys could _please_ stop before this turning into making out in front of all of us, that would be greatly appreciated.”

            Steve froze and looked up at Tony, still shooting henchpeople from the sky. Fuck it. “Well, someone,” He said, slightly nervously with a pointed look at Clint who was being a little shit anyway, “Interrupted date night, so you’ll just have to deal.”

            There was an awkward silence while Steve stood there with his heart in his throat. Okay, that was obviously a figure of speech since he was actually knocking some guy’s ass to the ground, but he was pretty scared about what Tony would say. Abruptly, Tony started to laugh. After a second Tasha began to snicker, which, of course, set Clint off. Soon everyone was laughing except Hulk because he didn’t really do that kind of thing.

            “Yeah Clint, fuck you!” Tony managed eventually between the quiet hiccups he got after laughing too hard.

            “Does this mean that we may finally congratulate the two of you on your glorious union?” Thor said into the com at a volume that most everyone would consider yelling, but Thor had absolutely no concept of loudness.

            Tony inhaled too quickly and choked on saliva. He began to cough violently as he heard Steve stammer something that sounded approximately like, “I mean…um…well, I mean that depends on…fuck, I he, we. Um…yes?” He settled on eventually.

            Tony’s heart stopped for a few seconds, which, fuck, he thought he fixed that. It’s super dangerous for hearts to do that. “Really?” He said in a very quiet voice.

            Oh and look at that, he was pretty sure he could see the redness of Steve’s face from up here. Also anyone in space could too, probably.

            “I um, if you want to,” Steve said quietly, but with determination.

            The henchpeople were mostly finished now. Loki was nowhere to be seen, but he had probably bailed ages ago. Brat. Technically he was thousands of years old, but Tony was pretty sure he was eons more mature than Loki, and that was saying something. He flew down to where Steve was, lifting up a slab of concrete that a couple of kids were stuck underneath.

            “Whoa, it’s Iron Man,” One of the kids said in quiet awe and Tony flipped up his faceplate.

            “Hey there, short stack!” He grinned widely and the two kids giggled at him.

            “You kids run over to those paramedics and let them check you out, okay?” Captain America ordered gently.

            The kids looked at Steve with something that was close to fear but more positive, and then glanced shyly at Tony.

            He winked at them, “I’m not goin anywhere any time soon.”

            They nodded and then ran off to where the medics were looking over the civilians. They were definitely fine, Tony wasn’t a doctor but he was pretty sure.

            “Um, you don’t have to-“ Steve started and Tony realized that he was about to negate all of the progress that they had made in the last ten minutes.

            Following a totally short internal panic, Tony put his hands on the sides of Steve’s face. Then he removed one, yanked out his com, threw it as far away as possible, did the same with Steve’s, and then put the hand back.

           “Tony, you’re going to have to-”

           “Billionaire.”

           “That doesn’t mean you can just-”

           “Steve?”

           “…Yes, Tony?”

           “Could you shush for like…five seconds?”

           “That depends, why would I be not talking? If it’s to get out of me reprimanding you, then forget it. I saw that stunt you pulled-”

           Tony was pretty sure, that scientifically speaking, kissing Captain America to get him to be quiet was a foolproof plan. He definitely needed to do a few more trials to be sure, he thought as Steve pulled away briefly to smile and then gently leaned back in to softly press his lips against Tony’s. Bruce would totally back him up and be one of his sources for the paper he was going to write. They broke apart but to lean their foreheads on each other’s.

           “Back me up, Bruce,” Tony muttered and Steve gave him a look. “Oh right, got rid of the coms.” He turned around and glanced around until he saw Bruce sitting on the curb of the sidewalk eating a protein bar. “BACK ME UP, BRUCE!”

           Bruce looked up at him and frowned, “Not without verifiable evidence!” Then he paused before continuing, “Wait, with what?”

           Tony opened his mouth to reply when Steve turned him back the other direction. “Tony, focus.”

           “On kissing?” He asked, wiggling his eyebrows up and down in that way Steve said he hated but always looked like he was trying his hardest not to laugh. Steve’s face contorted for a second before he let a small smile escape. Tony leaned back in to kiss those smooth, soft lips again, but a hand on his head stopped him. He pouted, “Steve, whyyy?”

           “First,” Steve began in his Captain voice. Tony groaned internally. There were going to be dating rules! Did there have to be dating rules? “Are we dating?” Steve sounded uncharacteristically unsure. “I know that you’re not really big into that kind of thing, but-”

           “What? Yes! Dating, we are doing that. Definitely doing the dating thing.” Tony added in quickly.

           Steve’s smile lit up his face. Tony grinned in response and then waited. A few seconds passed as they just gazed into each other’s eyes.

           “And? Second?”

           “What?”

           “You said first, so that implied a second statement of some kind…”

           “Oh,” Steve ran his hand through his hair and blushed lightly, “I uh…I didn’t think I’d actually get this far.”

           Tony immediately thought of the Plankton meme and snorted. He quickly schooled his features as Steve gave him a slightly hurt look. “That’s fine! No second thing needed. Kissing now?” He said, hoping he didn’t sound too desperate.

           Steve smiled gently and leaned back in to kiss him. Things were just starting to get very interesting when they were suddenly separated.

           “I wasn’t kidding when I said that I don’t want to see this shit,” Clint said with a handful of Steve’s hair.

           “Save it for later, kids,” Natasha smirked while having a similar grip on Tony.

           “But like…he’s so pretty, Tasha,” He said, looking at Steve longingly.

           Natasha and Clint exchanged a glance.

           “They’re going to be absolutely obnoxious,” Clint signed.

           “Fuck yeah,” Tony signed back.

           Clint gave a hugely melodramatic groan and let go of Tony’s BOYFRIEND!!!! He was going to work that into as many sentences as he could for the rest of forever. He’d probably get Fury’s other eye to fall out his head by rolling so hard before today’s briefing was over. Coulson might tase him though, so he’d have to be careful. Tony lost his train of thought as his boyfriend smiled dopily over at him. He sighed in a totally not dreamy way and Natasha wacked him upside the head.

           “Focus on clean up,” She muttered with a small smile, so Tony knew it wasn’t really a reprimand.

           He gave an obnoxiously flirty wave to Steve and waited until Steve waved back with an eye roll before getting to work. So yeah, Tony’s life wasn’t perfect and he still had a shit load of issues that weren’t going to be magically solved. But…but, he had a Steve now. Someone that he could go to when his nightmares were too much. Someone that could come to him when his nightmares were too difficult to deal with on his own. Someone who could help him with his issues without getting annoyed. Someone who could be there for him as much as he would be there for them.

           Someone he could love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, okay so it's been two years. I cannot apologize enough for waiting two years to finish this. However, I will say that I never forgot this fic or the feeling of finding a fic, loving it, and then seeing that it's not finished. School has been absolutely kicking my ass, but I would occasionally think to myself, "Okay, so I really need to finish that fic." So here it is! It's pretty long too, tbh. Let me know what y'all think, and sorry again!


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